3i Infotech - Bonus Awaits You

3i Infotech - Net Jumps 88%

3i Infotech a global provider of IT solutions and one of India’s largest software product companies, announced its operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2007.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Consolidated results for the quarter ended June 30, 2007:

• Revenue for the quarter was Rs 264.2 crores, a growth of 98.3% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.


• Profit before depreciation, Interest and Tax (including other income) for the quarter was Rs 66.3 crores, a growth of 94.5% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.


• Profit after tax for the quarter was Rs 40.3 crores, a growth of 88.9% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.


• Earnings per share (EPS) increased to Rs 6.41 from Rs 3.68 in the same quarter of the previous year.

Commenting on the results, Mr. V. Srinivasan, Managing Director & CEO, 3i Infotech Limited said, “Our strategy of aggressive organic growth complemented by strategic acquisitions is paying rich dividends by creating a fundamentally strong business model”.

Business Highlights

During the Quarter, 3i Infotech:

• Acquired 50.5% stake in aok in-house BPO Services Limited and aok in-house Factoring Services Private Limited. These companies were acquired for their delivery capabilities in the area of credit cards and auto loans processing for the banking sector and claims processing in the insurance sector.


• Launched a new global development centre in Chennai which will focus on the enhancement and development of the company’s flagship insurance solution PREMIA, the Kastle line of banking solutions and Orion ERP solution, as well as support the company’s growth in these areas.


• Was adjudged the winner of Top Contributor in Financial Services & Insurance (FSI) Sector Award from Oracle for Independent Software Vendor (ISV) – 2006.


• Received the ‘Best Software Product` award from the Hyderabad Software Exporters Association (HYSEA) for its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Fraud Detection software – AMLOCK™

The Board of Directors have accepted the resignation of Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch with effect from June 1, 2007. The vacancy casued by her resignation has been filled by the Board by appointing Ms. Vishakha Mulye as a Director pursuant to Section 262 of the Companies Act, 1956.

WS Indusries - Net Up 146%

WS Industries - Now Also Listed At NSE

WS Industries India Ltd has announced the UnAudited Financial Results for the quarter ended June 30, 2007.

The Company has posted a profit after taxes of Rs.39.45 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 where as the same was at Rs.16.03 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2006. Total Income is Rs.476.88 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2007 where as the same was at Rs.394.61 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2006.

The company reported an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of Rs.1.8 for Quarter ended June 30, 2007 compared to Rs.0.75 reported during Quarter ended June 30, 2006.

The proceeds of the equity / preference issues made by the Company are being used for the purpose for which they were raised. Income from temporary deployment of these proceeds have been netted against Capital Work in Progress.

Patel Engineering - Wait For Value Unlocking

Patel Engineering posts 34.46% jump in cons net profit at Rs 27.04 crore versus Rs 20.11 crore YoY. Consolidated income from operations rose 33.07% at Rs 415.25 crore Vs Rs 312.06 crore. Revenues includes: 50% from Hydro projects, 30% from Irrigation and 8% from road business.

As on June 30, 2007, company’s order book position above Rs 5,000 crore. Company has pre-qualified for new projects worth in excess of Rs 6,000 crore as on June 30, 2007. Company bagged order worth USD 153 million in Algeria from Agence Nationale Des Barrage Et Transferts (ANBT – Algeria).

Floated wholly owned subsidiary Patel Realities India Ltd (PRIL) for real estate development. Company currently owns more than 500 acres of urban land bank in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and other cities. Real estate revenues starts reflecting from FY09. Working capital is of 150 days current cash at Rs 175 crore including Rs 100 crore from unutilised funds from FPOs Rs 30 crore revenues from Joint Venturs. Debt equity ratio - 0.70, current debt at Rs 500 crore plus.

FCI Delisting - Boon Or Bane

One more buy back and one more delisting from the cluster of shares I like. I am talking about FCI OEN Connectors. The said company is getting delisted and the exit price is Rs. 700.00. I have recommended the stock at Rs.408.00 and those reading this blog regularly, would have made profit.

But, I have a thing against Delisting. I really don't like when companies go for delisting because it forces us to part away with some of the most beloved treasures. In the past I had to surrender my holdings in Cadbury's, Philips and many more. An investor sows the seed in a good company and when it starts to bear fruits the company goes for delisting. This should be stopped and rules should be changed. Similarly, defaulter companies should be punished heavily instead of delisting shares.

There are three types of delistings. This is either when a substantial acquisition of shares by acquirer (where the public holding dips below requisite levels) takes place and an exit offer made, or through mergers/acquisitions or compulsory delisting enforced by the stock exchange.

Investors also face the bane of being stuck with shares of a company that has not witnessed trading for years. Over the past two years, at least 26 companies, mainly multinational companies have delisted themselves from the stock exchanges, while another 90 other firms propose to do the same in coming years.

Imagine, many people have invested at the nascent stage of company and when promotors (of good and mulinational companies) feel that they should be given a free run they go for delisting or is it something else ? Why are several companies delisting themselves from the bourses? Should they be allowed to do so, while keeping shareholder and investor interest paramount? Readers please post your comments.

Jagran Prakashan - Excellent Results

Jagran Prakashan Net Profit Up 140 % At Rs 76.22 Crore

Jagran Prakashan Limited (JPL), publishers of Dainik Jagran, has acquired a net profit of Rs 76.22 crore, which is up by 140.45 per cent from Rs 31.70 crore in the corresponding period of last year. JPL has reported total revenues of Rs 622.98 crore for FY07, an increase of 27.95 per cent as compared to Rs 486.88 crore in FY06.

The EPS for the year was Rs 12.65, as against Rs 6.23 at the end of FY06. The performance of the company in the last quarter of FY07 was commendable with total revenues increasing by 29.71 per cent to Rs 170.25 crore, as compared to Rs 131.25 crore in Q4 FY06. EBIDTA and net profit increased by 28.58 per cent and 42.53 per cent to Rs 33.96 crore and Rs 18.09 crore respectively in the quarter ended March 31, 2007.

In the last fiscal, JPL saw significant revenues from out-of-home advertising and event management activities, which was over Rs 30 crore. During the year, the JPL made two new launches -- a bilingual daily newspaper ‘I-Next’, and a weekly infotainment newspaper ‘City Plus’. Both are targeted at the youth.

Commenting on the performance of the company in the last fiscal, Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, JPL, said, “In the last fiscal, we have taken steps to expand our product and services portfolio, and now JPL has presence in all media genres which includes print, out-of-home advertising, event management, and the new emerging media. Being a 360-degree media house, we have become one of the most diversified media player, providing complete media solutions to all the clients, while maintaining our primary focus towards maintaining our credibility in giving detailed, accurate and up-to-date news to our readers.”

JPL also entered into an alliance agreement with Yahoo! India, under which the company’s news portal www.jagran.com will be co-branded as www.jagran.yahoo.in. Yahoo! India would be responsible to host, maintain and market the website on revenue sharing basis. In addition to these, a separate profit centre named ‘J9’ was created to take the short code service division of JPL to a higher level.

Apart from these new initiatives, JPL’s flagship brand Dainik Jagran also ventured into new territories of Indore, Siliguri and Amritsar. The advertisement and circulation revenues continued to increase with advertisement revenues at Rs 388.21 crore and circulation revenue at Rs 170.83 crore for the year. The advertisement revenue for Dainik Jagran grew by 25.7 per cent, higher than the industry’s overall growth rate of 22.8 per cent. The advertisement revenues were driven by the increase in card rate, increased focus on local market and increase of about 18 per cent in colour advertisement space.

Emami - Good Results

Emami FY07 PBT Up 44% On Strong Exports

Emami, one of the leading players in the personal and health care industry, reported a 44% growth in profit before tax (PBT) at Rs 74.5 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007 (FY07) as against Rs 51.6 crore in FY06.

The turnover for the company grew 27% at Rs 516 crore as compared to Rs 407 crore in FY06. Emami attributed this growth to its growing FMCG business and newer launches last financial year.

During the quarter, the company saw 39.91% rise in profit to Rs 221.90 million from Rs 158.60 million during the quarter ended March 2006.

Net sales for the quarter rose 54.24% to Rs 1,499.40 million from Rs 972.1 million during the corresponding quarter, a year ago.

Operating margins fell to 14.12% during the quarter, a fall of 24.17 basis points compared with the corresponding quarter, a year ago. Net margins, on the other hand, fell to 14.74% during the quarter from 16.24% in the same period last year.

The brands Navratna Oil and Boroplus Antiseptic Cream with market shares of 55.2% and 69.7% respectively, strengthened Emami's position further.

Mr Black & Mrs Black Hair Dye Powder and Malai Kesar Cold Cream were the most recent launches and accounted for 17% of turnover.

Emami's international business grew by 40%. This growth is from all 59 countries that it exports to, specially SAARC, Africa and Europe. Emami's new international range of products, Emita range, aimed at the masses in developing countries and the Gold range and Ayucare range, aimed at niche and premium markets, received excellent market response.